Internship at the Universität Konstanz
Thanks to the active cooperation between Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the EUniWell Alliance, employees of the M. Maksymovych Scientific Library, Olena Gerasimova and Tetiana Bilan, successfully completed a five-day internship (Staff Visit) at the University of Konstanz (Germany).
The trip was made possible thanks to the cooperation between the director of the M. Maksymovych Scientific Library, Maryna Zhenchenko, and the head of EUniWell’s open science department, Josefine Honke.
- Location: Communication and Information Media Centre (KIM) at the University of Konstanz.
- Duration: 24 to 28 November 2025.
Key objectives and achievements
The main objective of the internship was to deepen knowledge and gain practical experience in areas that are critical to modern science:
- Open Science
- Data Management
- Effective operation of a modern scientific library
Employees had a unique opportunity to exchange experiences with their German colleagues.
Highlights of the internship:
- Data Management: Max Heber shared valuable experience on the specific steps taken by the state of Baden-Württemberg to implement effective data management in scientific research.
- Data Steward qualification: Benjamin Schäfer provided a comprehensive insight into the structure of the Data Steward qualification course.
- Open Access: Dr. Martina Benz introduced the open-access.network.com resource and the work involved in moderating it. All the information gathered will form part of the practical steps for the further development of Open Science.
- KOPS Repository: The conversation with Susanne Bohner about the KOPS institutional repository proved to be the most fruitful and dialogical. Many points of contact were identified in the development of repositories between our universities, which opens up broad prospects for further cooperation.
- Digitisation of rare and valuable publications: An unexpected but extremely useful turn of events was a meeting with Anke Rautenberg, where we discussed in detail the process of digitising old books, including the software used for this purpose.
Everything heard and discussed during the Staff Visit will be implemented in practical steps for the further development of Open Science.
The team at the M. Maksymovych Scientific Library of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv is determined to roll out and implement European experience in our university’s practice.
We express our sincere gratitude for this unique opportunity and support:
- KIM Management Board: Oliver Kohl-Frey and Anja Oberländer for supporting Ukraine and making this Staff Visit possible.
- EUniWell and Josefine Honke: For the rich programme and extremely warm welcome.
- The management of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv: Volodymyr Bugrov, Hanna Tolstanova, Ksenia Smyrnova for their constant support of internationalisation and the development of Open Science at KNU.
- The Director of the M. Maksymovych Scientific Library: For proposing the idea of exchanging experiences and successfully implementing it.
